I’m quite proud of it. It’s washed OK, considering the wide variety of fibre types in the weaving, some of them only guessed at, and I found another use for the old picklocks; they are inserted at regular intervals around the edge to stretch it gently into shape as it dries. I have since been out and fingercombed through the fringe, then trimmed it roughly to a manageable length. I’m not giving this one away! It’s a little stiffer, but also warmer, than the first one I wove, completely out of scrap & leftover yarns, but as far as I remember most of that one was acrylic. I’ve done better with the shape of this one; I was more careful with the tension, as far as you can be, but also the loom kept its shape far better than the hardboard did. I was a bit anxious that the wool & other animal fibres would shrink at the fulling stage and distort the shape, but thankfully that doesn’t seem to have happened – everything has tightened & evened up a little, that’s all.
Now I’m looking forwards to wearing it – perhaps at our famous Wimborne Folk Festival next month?
Update: following a couple of requests elsewhere, I’ve added a page describing how I made the loom: see
A recycled lifestyle... 